


Hope Reborn

by geekmama



Series: Aftermath [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Deleted Scenes, Episode: s04e03 The Final Problem, F/M, ILYAnniversary2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 08:41:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13384212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekmama/pseuds/geekmama
Summary: ...he was about at the end of his tether, adrenaline rush fading… tired… hopeless… the garish lights of emergency vehicles flashing blue, red, white against the shapes and shadows of this childhood home, a place both strange and eerily familiar…Written for the one year anniversary of the 'I Love You' scene inThe Final Problem, this is a Sherlock POV outtake near the end ofBenefit of Doubt, part one of myAftermathseries.





	Hope Reborn

**Author's Note:**

> Also written for the 'Birth' prompt.
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> **********************************

Greg said, his voice -- his eyes -- rather gentle, “Local police are going to have some questions--”

Of course they would, and here he was about at the end of his tether, adrenaline rush fading… tired… _hopeless_ … the garish lights of emergency vehicles flashing blue, red, white against the shapes and shadows of this childhood home, a place both strange and eerily familiar… Eurus, his mad sister, now almost catatonic, and being “seen to” by a specialist team sent by the British government (Mycroft’s exterior would display inhuman resilience until his dying breath, no matter what internal havoc might be wrought by guilt and remorse)... John was beside him, only half-drowned, blanketed, shivering… they were -- most of them -- safe and alive, and that had to count for something when only few hours ago he’d been resigned to--

“--and you should text Molly that you’re okay, she wanted to come with me, but I told her no, of course, didn’t know what we’d be walking into, what with that cryptic message you sent.”

Sherlock looked up at Lestrade, startled. “Molly? She… you _saw_ her?”

“Yeah, she called me, after your… er… conversation. Figured there was something going on, and when I got out there and found that camera--”

“There were at least four--”

“I know it, don’t get in a strop, we had a team go over the place -- she’s probably still putting it back together as we speak.”

Sherlock swallowed hard, the bit of engraved metal in his suit coat pocket threatening to drag him under with its weight. “She wanted to come here? She… she wasn’t…”

“She was pretty upset, and worried about you. And John, too, of course” Lestrade winked at John.

“Right,” John said. But he was smiling when Sherlock glanced at him sharply.

But… she still cared.

_I love you..._

In spite of his idiocy, and his cruelty, and the years of devaluing something he now realized was possibly the most valuable thing in his life…

_I love you..._

“Mr. Holmes, I’m afraid we need to ask you some questions,” said a copper, coming up to him, a serious look on his youthful face. A newer member of the force, obviously, and he made Sherlock feel almost ancient.

“Mr. Holmes is well aware of procedure, Officer Milton,” said an older man, a detective and about Lestrade’s age, though less well preserved.

_I love you…_

Molly was waiting for him. Waiting to hear… perhaps to see him. Thinking about him at this very moment in time…

He straightened (not without effort -- so bloody _tired!_ ) and said to Lestrade, “I don’t have my mobile, text Molly will you, while I deal with this? Tell her I’ll explain it all soon.”

“And send her a hug from me,” John said. Sherlock saw that he was still smiling, and his eyes held faith and encouragement, as well as humor.

Sherlock’s own lip twitched against a smile… his heart oddly light… that bit of metal deep in the recesses of his pocket was shining like a star...

_I love you…_

“Gentlemen,” Sherlock said briskly to Milton and his older colleague, “what do you need to know?”

  


~.~


End file.
